The present invention relates to a bed frame construction and, more particularly, to a bed frame having protective shields that are provided at a number of locations about the bed frame to protect against the potential injury to a person inadvertently encountering an otherwise sharp edge situated at various locations about the bed frame and to the construction of the shields themselves.
There are in use today, bed frames that are used to support a box spring and mattress in order to construct a bed. In the construction of such bed frames, normally the components comprise a pair of side rails and various cross members that interconnect the side rails to make up the support for that box spring and mattress. The common side rail is constructed of an L-shaped steel member and the cross members are also of the same general configuration. Conventionally, the side rails have a vertical plane of the L-shaped angle iron extending upwardly and the horizontal plane extending inwardly to support the box spring. The cross members generally have the vertical plane extending downwardly with the horizontal plane supporting the box spring. In addition, at one of the ends of the side rails there are generally provided end brackets in order to affix a headboard to the bed frame assembly as will hereinafter be referred to as the head of the bed frame while the opposite ends of the bed frame will be referred to as the foot end of the bed frame.
As further component to the bed frame, there are also a number of leg assemblies or supports that extend downwardly from the cross members located at least at each of the four corners of the bed frame such that the bed frame is supported a finite height above the floor.
Accordingly, while the use of L-shaped steel angle iron for the side rails or the cross members results in a very sturdy construction to the bed frame, there is a problem raised in that the steel angle iron members generally have relatively sharp corners or ends and which are normally not rounded off in the manufacturing process. As such, therefore, the overall construction of the bed frame creates a number of locations about the bed frame where there are sharp edges that pose a hazard to the user or to any person walking by or in the close proximity to the bed frame, and that hazard persists even when the bed frame is supporting and therefore somewhat covered by the box spring, mattress and the bedclothes.
With a typical bed frame, therefore, those hazardous locations are generally the four corners of the bed frame where there are various edges or corners that are susceptible to being hit by a person. In particular, at the head end of the side rail, as stated, there are headboard end brackets that are available to affix a headboard to the head end of the bed frame when assembled. At the same locations there are leg assemblies that extend downwardly at the junction of the cross member at the head end of the bed frame and the side rails. Thus, at those locations at the head end of the bed frame, a person can strike the end of the side rail or hit the leg assemble and injury is possible.
Other locations are at the foot end of the bed frame where there is an extension of the L-shaped side rail that projects outwardly rearwardly beyond a junction point where a cross member is affixed to the side rails and where there is another leg assembly affixed to that cross member extending downwardly to contact the floor. Again, at the foot location of the bed frame, injury is possible to a passerby. As yet another location where there is a possibility of harm to a user, the entire length of the side rails have the vertical plane of the L-shaped angle iron extending upwardly and has a relatively sharp edge that can be encountered by a person and cause injury. Finally, the leg assemblies themselves have sharp corners or projections and thus are also locations about the bed frame where an injury to a user is potential.
There have been various attempts at alleviating the problems, however, all of such purported solutions have attacked the hazard in a more or less haphazard manner, that is, there are certain shields that have been affixed to bed frames in various locations that are specifically adapted for use at a particular location or locations. In addition, there have been other attempts to alleviate the difficulties by rearranging certain of the components to relocate the hazardous edges to a more secure location on the bed frame.
For example, in the Roche, U.S. Pat. No. 2,951,252, there is shown, an end cap that is slid on to the end of a side rail to provide some protection to that end. The use of end caps is, however, limited since the protection is localized to only the very ends of the side rails and, obviously, the concept is rather uniquely restricted to side rail ends and the side rail cap of Roche certainly cannot be used as a protective shield in any of the other hazardous locations about the bed frame. Thus, the protection is limited and the concept cannot be extended as a comprehensive solution to the overall problem of having a number of locations about the bed frame where protective shields are also needed. In addition, the use of end caps, while used today, also suffer from the problem that the end caps are not securely affixed onto the side rail ends and the end cap can easily slide off of the end of the side rail and leave the side rail ends unprotected. If unprotected, there is the aforedescribed risk of injury as well as the possibility of the bed clothes being torn by being caught on the edge of a side rail during use or damage to the box spring or mattress during installation of the bed itself.
Aside from the Roche construction, there is an inherent difficulty with the use of end caps that slip on to the end of the L-shaped side rails. With most bed frame constructions, there is a cross rail located near the ends of the side rails and where there is also located a leg assembly so that there is a leg assembly generally at the four corners of the bed frame. Thus, with a slide-on end cap, the end cap can only go a relatively short distance when it encounters the cross rail and cannot slide past that obstruction. Accordingly, while the very end of the side rail can have a end cap to provide protection, there is still the hazard of the cross rail where it connects to the side rail and, of course, the hazardous location of the leg assembly itself at that same location. With a slide on end cap, obviously, there is no way the concept of a slide on end cap can be used other than to protect the end of the side rail and certainly not the end of the cross rail and the leg assembly.
In the Feld, U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,853, there is another protective device and which is comprised of an impact absorbing material that is affixed to the L-shaped side rails to protect against an inadvertent striking of such side rail, however, again the solution is limited to the protection of the side rail and thus is not a comprehensive solution and the Feld concept does not extend readily to other locations about the bed frame where there are, as previously explained, sharp edges that can cause injury. In effect, Feld considered the top edge of the side rail to be the potentially, most likely portion of the side rail to cause injury and, thus, concentrated efforts to provide a protective cushion for that particular location and did not attempt to shield other possible locations about the bed frame that could cause injuries to a person if encountered.
With respect to protection against striking leg assemblies which, as explained, are also locations on the bed frame that can have potentially hazardous sharp surfaces, it can be noted that one solution is to move the leg assemblies inwardly toward the center of the bed and thus away from a location that could be easily struck by a person. Typical of such leg locations is shown in Spitz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,718 where the leg assemblies are in a more protective location, however, moving the leg assembly to an inner position of the bed frame compromises the overall strength of the bed assembly and weakens the bed construction. Accordingly, again, while Spitz may provide one solution to one particular type of potential injury causing hazard, the solution raises other problems and the solution is limited to the hazard associated with the leg assembly and is only a limited protection to but one of the potential hazardous locations about the bed frame.
As can be seen, therefore, the prior attempts to alleviate the hazardous conditions of the typical bed frame have been directed to individual solutions concentrated on specific locations about the bed frame and there is no one overall concept that can be put to use to provide a comprehensive means of protection against all of the hazardous locations about the bed frame. Instead, each of the attempted solutions is localized in its application and cannot be used as a protective shield at other, dissimilar locations. In short, prior attempts at safety devices and shields have utilized micro concepts and not macro concepts.